Alain de Botton Quotes

Say all you have to say in the fewest possible words, or your reader will be sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words or he will certainly misunderstand them.

Hard writing makes easy reading.

I don't want my readers slowed down by long passages of narrative.

Omit needless words.

Writing for me is cutting out the fat and getting to the meaning.

Less really is more. It's a tendency of beginning writers to want to prove what they're talking about by going too far with description. I think you've got to keep it short, crisp and clean.

You know what writers say about their long books: If I had another year, the book would be half as long.

In a newspaper, you only have so much room. It teaches you the value of getting to the point, of not pampering yourself with your glorious writing. I've always been much more interested in one powerful sentence that stays with you. That's my style.

I've simplified much more in my writing. I say what I've got to say, not in metaphor.

My writing tends to become very dense, so I have to keep some cushion. Sometimes, words that seem superfluous are actually essential for the overall effect.

Through an arbitrary problem, I had arrived at a tenet of good writing: brevity wins.

It's not difficult for me to put my feelings into written form. I try to be concise and to go direct to the subject. This is what people like about my work, and what the critics hate.

People who want to express themselves effectively can learn a lot from the hard-won concision of the copywriter.

I think precision in writing goes hand in hand with not trying to say everything. You try and say two-thirds, so the reader will involve himself or herself.

It's better to say nothing than spend 1,000 words or an hour speech saying nothing. Get to the point.

I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in.

Adverbs lead to overwriting. Try taking them out and reading your prose again to see how it sounds. Simple and less words are more powerful.

I think I personally, as a writer, read differently knowing how tough it is to write, knowing how challenging it is to articulate it, to express clearly and economically and with focus and with purpose.

Better to say something simply instead of giving people a bunch of vague metaphors to mull over.

They write them long because they can't write them short.

Do not put cleverness in front of the communication.

A book should be luminous not voluminous.

It behooves us to avoid archaisms. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

Make your "yes" mean yes, and your "no" mean no.

When a writer tries to explain too much, he's out of time before he begins.